Lukas 1:67-69

Zechariah’s Praise and Prediction

1:67 Then ¹  his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, ² 

1:68 “Blessed ³  be the Lord God of Israel,

because he has come to help ⁴  and has redeemed ⁵  his people.

1:69 For ⁶  he has raised up ⁷  a horn of salvation ⁸  for us in the house of his servant David, ⁹ 

[1:67]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[1:67]  ² tn Grk “and he prophesied, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[1:67]  sn Prophesied. The reference to prophecy reflects that Zechariah is enabled by the Spirit to speak God’s will. He does so in this case through a praise psalm, which calls for praise and then gives the reason why God should be praised.

[1:68]  ³ sn The traditional name of this psalm, the “Benedictus,” comes from the Latin wording of the start of the hymn (“Blessed be…”).

[1:68]  ⁴ sn The verb come to help can refer to a visit, but can also connote concern or assistance (L&N 85.11).

[1:68]  ⁵ tn Or “has delivered”; Grk “has accomplished redemption.”

[1:68]  sn Has redeemed is a reference to redemption, but it anticipates the total release into salvation that the full work of Messiah will bring for Israel. This involves both spiritual and material benefits eventually.

[1:69]  ⁶ tn Grk “and,” but specifying the reason for the praise in the psalm.

[1:69]  ⁷ sn The phrase raised up means for God to bring someone significant onto the scene of history.

[1:69]  ⁸ sn The horn of salvation is a figure that refers to the power of Messiah and his ability to protect, as the horn refers to what an animal uses to attack and defend (Ps 75:4-5, 10; 148:14; 2 Sam 22:3). Thus the meaning of the figure is “a powerful savior.”

[1:69]  ⁹ sn In the house of his servant David is a reference to Messiah’s Davidic descent. Zechariah is more interested in Jesus than his own son John at this point.